.A. DEPOSIT

OF

AGRICULTURAL flint implements

FOUND

IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS

BY CHARLES RAIL

FROM THE ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION,
WASHINGTON, D. C, FOR THE YEAR 1868.

WASHINGTON:

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.
NOV., 1869.

A DEPOSIT OF AGEICULTUEAL FLINT' IMPLEMENTS IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS.

BY CHARLES RAIL

In an article published in the Smithsonian report for 1863 I gave, for the first
time, an account and drawings of certain North American flint implements of
large size and superior workmanship, which were evi-
dently used by the aborigines for cultivating the soil
and other digging purposes, and hence, according to
their shape, classified by me as shovels and hoes. The
annexed figures represent both kinds of implements.
I described the shovels (Fig. 1) as oval plates of flint,
flat on one side and slightly convex on the other, the
outline being chipped into a sharp edge. The speci-
men here figured measures above a foot in length, a
little more than five inches in its greatest breadth, and
is about three-quarters of an inch thick in the middle.
Others are narrower and not quite as heavy. The
shape of the hoes is illustrated by Fig. 2. This speci-
men is seven and a half ^
inches long, nearly six
inches wide, and about
half an inch thick in
the middle. The roun-
ded part forms a sharp
edge. The material
of which these imple-
ments are made is a
peculiar kind of bluish,
gray or brownish flint,
of slightly conchoidal
fracture, and capable
of splitting into large flat fragments. I never
succeeded in discovering this stone in situ. The
agricultural implements of my collection were nil

found in St. Clair county in southern Illinois, ^Mmb*w&MSr
with the exception of one shovel, which was dug up in 1SG1 in St. Louis, during
the construction of ear thworks for theprotection of the city. Both shovels and
hoes were, doubtless, attached to handles, those of the latter probably forming
a right, or even an acute angle with the stone blade, which is always provided
with two notches in the upper part to facilitate the fastening.*

* I quoted a passage from Du Praiz, which is, perhaps, referable to the hoes. According
to this author, the natives of Louisiana had invented a hoe, (pioche) with the aid of whk h
they prepared the soil for the culture of maize. "These hoes," he says, " are shaped like a
capital L ; they cut with the edge of the lower part, which is entirely flat.*' — Histoire de In
Louisiane, Paris, 1758. Vol. II, p. 176.

Plato XXI, in vol. II of De Bry, (Frankfort, 1591,) represents Florida Indians of both
sexes engaged in field labor, the men using the hoe and the women sowing. The Latin text
(by Le Moyne) accompanying the engraving states that the hoes are made of fish-bone,
(ligonts e piscium ossibus) and provided with wooden handles. The women sow beans and
jnaize — ' ' feminai falrns milium, site Mayzum serunt."

4

DEPOSIT OF AGRICULTURAL FLINT IMPLEMENTS.

Some of the shovels, like the specimen of which a drawing is given, measure
a foot and more in length, and consequently are among the largest flint tools
thus far discovered in any part of the world. Neither the rude hatchet-like and
lanceolate implements found in the " drift " of France and England, associated
with the osseous remains of the mammoth, the rhinoceros, and other animals of a
bygone fauna, equal them in size ; nor have, to my knowledge, the caves of the
reindeer period in southern France and Belgium, once the resorts of savage hunt-
ing tribes, yielded any chipped flint articles of the same dimensions, "indeed,
they are rivaled, as I think, only by the large flint celts of Scandinavia and
northern Germany, which belong to a more advanced stage of the European
stone age.

That the North American flint tools described by me were really used for dig-
ging can hardly be doubted. " If the shape of these implements," I stated in
my account, " did not indicate their original use, the peculiar traces of wear
which they exhibit would furnish almost conclusive evidence of the manner in
which they have been employed ; for that part with which the digging was done
appears, notwithstanding the hardness of the material, perfectly smooth, as if
glazed, and slightly striated in the direction in which the implement penetrated
the ground." I further mentioned that this peculiar feature is common to all
specimens of my collection as well as to the few which I have seen in the hands
of others j and that they seem to be rather scarce, and merely confined to certain
States bordering on the Mississippi river.

I was, therefore, much interested in the recent discovery of a large deposit of
such implements at East St. Louis, (formerly Illinoistown,) in St. Clair county,
Illinois, a place situated directly opposite the city of St. Louis, in the so-called
" American Bottom," which forms a fertile plain extending for a considerable
distance along the Mississippi shore in Illinois. This region, I must state, is
very rich in Indian remains of various descriptions,* but particularly interesting
on account of numerous artificial mounds, among which the celebrated truncated
pyramid called Cahokia Mound, or Monk's Mound, is by far the most conspicuous,
reminding the beholder of those gigantic structures in the valley of the Nile,
which the rulers of Egypt have left to posterity as tokens of their power and their
pride.

The particulars of the discovery to which I alluded were communicated to me by
Dr. John J. R. Patrick, of Belleville, Illinois, a gentleman to whom I am greatly
indebted for long-continued co-operation in my pursuits relative to the subject of
American antiquities. As soon as Dr. Patrick heard of the discovery he hastened
to East St. Louis, for the purpose of ascertaining on the spot all details concern-
ing the occurrence of those flint tools 5 and in order to obtain still more minute
information, he afterwards repeated^ revisited the place of discovery which is about
14 miles distant from Belleville, and can be reached after a short ride, the latter
place being connected by railroad with East St. Louis. The removal of ground
in extending a street disclosed the existence of the deposit, and Dr. Patrick
derived all facts concerning its character from Mr. Sullivan, the contractor of the
street work, who was present when the tools were exhumed, and therefore can
be considered as a reliable authority. The results of my informant's inquiries,
communicated in various letters addressed to me^ are contained in the following
account :

In the early part of December 1868, some laborers, while engaged in grading

an extension of Sixth street in East St. Louis, came upon a deposit of Indian

relics, consisting of flint tools, all of the hoe and shovel type, and of small fossil

marine shells, partly pierced, and in quantity about equal to the contents of a

bushel. Close bv were found several boulders of flint and Greenstone, wei^hins
" 0/00

* Some years ago I discovered near East St. Louis the traces of an Indian pottery, de-
scribed in the Smithsonian report for 1866.

DEPOSIT OF AGRICULTURAL FLINT IMPLEMENTS.

5

from 15 to 30 pounds each, and many fragments of flint. The soil in the imme-
diate neighborhood is composed of black loam, overlying a stratum of a sandy
character, and the deposit which occurred in the latter, was covered with from 18
to 24 inches of the black earth, bearing a luxuriant turf on its surface. Accord-
ing to the contractor's statement, the flint tools, the shells, and the boulders were
deposited in three separate holes dug out in the sand, but not more than a foot
apart from each other, and placed like the corners of a triangle. To use his lan-
guage, the implements formed a ''nest" by themselves, and so did the shells,
and likewise the boulders. The flint tools, however, instead of being packed
close together, like the shells and the boulders, were arranged with some regu-
larity, overlapping each other or standing edgewise, and covering a circular space.
The whole deposit did not extend more than seven or eight feet on either side.
The contractor neglected to count the implements, but he thinks there were from
70 to 75 in all ; some 50 hoes and about 20 shovels. No other stone articles,
such as arrow and spear-heads, tomahawks, &c, had been deposited with the

agricultural implements. The lattei
were soon taken away by persons from
the place, attracted by the novelty ol
the occurrence, and it is to be regret-
ted that many, if not most of them,
have fallen into the hands of individu-
als who are unable to appreciate their
value. But this is usually the case
when discoveries of similar character
are made. Dr. Patrick examined
upwards of 20 of the flint implements,
and found that none of them had been
used, as they had not received the
slightest polish on the cutting edge.

The place of discovery lies about a
mile and a half, or still further, fromthe
Mississippi, on elevated ground, and
above ordinary high- water mark ; but
formerly, before the bed of the river
was narrowed by the dike connect-
ing the Illinois shore with Bloody
Island, the distance cannot have been
more than half a mile. The spot is
situated nearly midway between two
mounds, half a mile apart from each
other. One of them was formerly
used as a graveyard by the French of
the neighborhood, and the other serves
as the substructure for a dwelling-house. The accompanying plan (furnished by
my correspondent) gives a view of the locality.

Several of the agricultural implements found at East St. Louis are now in my
possession. Their material is a yellowish-brown variety of the flint to which I
already referred. In shape they correspond with the tools of the same class
previously described by me j most of the shovels, however, instead of having the
end opposite the cutting part worked into a rounded edge, (like Fig. 1,) termi-
nate in a more or less acute angle. The edges of all are chipped with the
utmost regularity, and exhibit not the slightest wear, which proves that the
implements were in a perfectly new condition when buried in the ground.

The fossil shells of marine origin are all small univalves, and belong almost
entirely to the genus melampus. Of nearly 300 specimens sent to me by Dr.
Patrick, 19 only represent other genera, namely, columbella, marginella. coitus,

6

DEPOSIT OF AGRICULTURAL FLINT IMPLEMENTS.

and bulla. All have a decayed and chalky appearance. They were probably
obtained in the neighborhood, and obviously destined for ornamental
purposes. This may be inferred from the fact that a number of the
mdampiis shells are pierced with one hole in the lower part, (Fig. 3,
natural size, > which was sufficient for stringing them, as the connecting
thread could easily be passed through the natural aperture of the shelf.
On close examination I found that these shells had been reduced, by
grinding, to greater thinness at the place of perforation, in order to
facilitate the process of piercing.

The boulders, which formed a part of the deposit, were probably designated
for the manufacture of implements. A piece of one of the boulders was lent to
me for examination. It is a compact diorite, the material of which many ground
articles of the North American Indians, such as tomahawks, chisels, pestles- &c.
are made.

It would be useless to speculate on the antiquity of the objects thus acciden-
tally discovered, for there are no indications for determining, even approximately
the period when they were buried. It is far easier to account for the motives
which induced the owners of the tools and the other objects to dispose of them
in the manner described. Their object was, in all probability, to hide them.
Perhaps they left the place with a view to return and to take possession again
of their concealed property, but were prevented from carrying out their intention
Or, they may have buried them in time of war, when thev were killed, driven
away, or led into captivity ; and their "hidden treasure" lay undisturbed in the
ground, perhaps for centuries, until the spade of the Irish laborer -brought it to
light again. There is no room whatever for the supposition that this" deposit
constituted one of those religious offerings by which the ancient inhabitants of
the Mississippi valley believed they couid gratify or propitiate the powers that
ruled their destinies.

Similar deposits of flint articles have repeatedly been discovered in the United
States,* and Messrs. Squier and Davis mention several instances of this kind in
their work entitled u Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley." The most
extensive accumulation described by them occurred in one of the so-called sacri-
ficial mounds of " Clark's Work," on North Fork of Paint creek, Eoss county,
Ohio. This mound contained, instead of the altar usually found in this class of
earth-structures, an enormous number of flint disks standing on their edo-es and
arranged in two layers one above the other, at the bottom of the mound. ^The
whole extent of these layers has not been ascertained ; but an excavation six
feet long and four broad disclosed upwards of six hundred of those disks, rudely
blocked out of a superior kind of grayish striped flint. I had occasion to exam-
ine the specimens formerly in the collection of Dr. Davis, and have now a num-
ber of them in my own collection, which were sent to me from Ohio. They are
either roundish, oval, or heart-shaped, and of various sizes, but on an average
six inches long, four inches wide, and from three-quarters of an inch to an inch
in thickness. They weigh not far from two pounds each. These flint disks are
believed to have been buried as a religious offering, and the peculiar structure
of the mound which inclosed themf rather favors this view. The disks, how-
ever, represent no finished implements, but merelv flat pieces, rudely chipped
around their edges, and destined, in all probability, to be wrought into more
symmetrical forms. Thus it would rather seem that the contents of this mound
constituted a kind of depot or magazine, from which supplies of flint could be
drawn whenever there was a want of that material. Many of the disks under
notice bear a striking resemblance to the flint " hatchets" discovered by Boucher
de Perthes and Dr. liigollot in the diluvial gravels of the valley of the Somme,

* Also in Europe. Deposits of flint arrow-heads, for instance, were found in Scotland.—
Logan, " The Scottish GaeL" Lond., J83J., Vol. I, p. 339.
t Ancient Monuments, &c , p. 158; drawings of tke'disks on p. 214.

DEPOSIT OF AGRICULTURAL FLINT IMPLEMENTS.

7

in northern France.* The similarity in form, however, is the only analogy that
can be claimed for the rude flint articles of both continents, considering that
they occurred under totally different circumstances. The drift implements of
Europe represent the most primitive attempts of man in the art of working stone,
while the Ohio disks are the unfinished specimens of a race that constructed
earthworks of amazing size, and was already highly skilled in the manufacture
of weapons and tools of flint.

Yet I little doubt but that implements analogous in shape as well as in asso-
ciations to those of the drift of Europe, will be found also in America,- for indi-
cations of the high antiquity of man on the latter continent are not wanting, and
the similarity in the early condition of the human race in various parts of the
globe becomes more and more manifest by the results of archaeological investi-
gation.

Another occurrence of flint disks is recorded in a notice by Dr. Hoy, published
in Lapham's "Antiquities of Wis-
consin/7 one of the Smithsonian vol-
umes : " Some workmen, in digging
a ditch through a peat swamp near
Racine, found a deposit of disks of
hornstone, about 30 in number. They
were immediately on the clay, at the
bottom of the peat, about two and
a half feet below the surface. Some
of the disks were quite regular $ they
vary from half a pound to a pound
in weight." A few of these are pre-
served in the collection of the Smith-
sonian Institution.

About 1860, while I lived in St.
Louis, a quantity of rudely-shaped
flint articles of similar character were
discovered close together on the bank
of the Mississippi, between St. Louis
and Carondelet. It is probable that
the falling down of a part of the bank
had exposed them to sight. I could
not ascertain their number, but saw
about eight of them, of which I ob-
tained three. They are nearly all
of the same size, oval in shape, and
consist of whitish flint. Fig. 4
represents one of my specimens in
natural size. The original is seven-
eighths of an inch thick in the mid-
dle part. It is evident that they are.
not implements in a state of comple-
tion, but roughly-edged fragments,
which were destined to be made into
arrow and spear-heads at some future time. Their present convenient shape was
doubtless given them for the sake of easier transportation and for saving space. It.
is believed that flint can be chipped more readily after having been exposed
for some time to the humid influence of the earth, and this may partly account
for the practice of the aborigines of burying their supplies of flint in suitable places.

* Implements very similar in shape to the Ohio disks were also found in the caves of
Dordogne, especially that of Le Moustier. They are described and figured in the splendid
iKork by Lartet and Christy, entitled " Reliquiae Aquitanicaa."

8

DEPOSIT OF AGRICULTURAL FLINT IMPLEMENTS.

Returning to my former subject, I will observe that the occurrence of Indian
flint tools whicli served for agricultural purposes is not more surprising than
that of other stone implements indicating less peaceable pursuits 5 for it is known
that many of the aboriginal tribes of North America raised maize and other nutri-
tious plants before this continent was settled by Europeans.* The production
of maize, indeed, must have been considerable. Mr. Gallatin has taken some pains
to ascertain the area, east of the Rocky Mountains, and north of Mexico, over
which cultivation extended. It was bounded on the east by the Atlantic;
on the south by the Gulf of Mexico j on the west by the Mississippi, or,
more properly, by the prairies. Towards the north the limits varied accord-
ing to the climate ; but near the Atlantic the northern boundary of agriculture
lay in the region of the rivers Kennebec and Penobscot. North of the Great
Lakes agriculture was only found among the Hurons and some kindred tribes.
The Ojibways, on the south of Lake Superior, and their neighbors, the Meno-
monies, it appears, depended for vegetable food principally on the wild rice or
wild oats, called folk avoine by the French.! The Iroquois tribes raised large
quantities of Indian corn. In the year 1687, a corps under the command of the
Marquis de Nonville made an invasion into the country of the Senecas, during
which all their supplies of maize were either burned or otherwise spoiled, and
the quantity thus destroyed is said to have amounted to 400,000 minots, or
1,200,000 bushels.J Though this estimate may be somewhat exaggerated, it
nevertheless shows that these tribes paid much attention to the cultivation of
maize.

The nations who inhabited the large territories formerly called Florida and
Louisiana, probably obtained their food mostly from the vegetable kingdom.
They cultivated chiefly maize, beans, peas, pumpkins, melons, and sweet pota-
toes. Maize, however, was their principal produce. In the accounts of De
Soto's expedition, not only frequent allusion is made to the extensive maize fields
of the natives, but it may also be gathered from these relations that the army of
De Soto would have starved without the supplies of Indian corn obtained from
the inhabitants. These people laid up stores of that useful cereal, and among
other facts it is mentioned that one of De Soto's officers found in one house
alone, five hundred measures of maize ground to meal, besides a large quantity
in grain. § But those southern tribes met by De Soto and his followers in the
sixteenth century were the most advanced among the North American aborig-
ines. No longer in the pure hunter state, but attached to the soil, they lived in
large villages, consisting of dwellings more commodious than those of the ruder
tribes, and paid generally more attention to the comforts of life than the latter.

Adair, who spent during the last century many years as a trader in the dis-
trict under notice, mentions that the French of "West Florida and the English
colonists obtained from the Indians different sorts of beans and peas, with whicli
they were before entirely unacquainted. They raised also a small kind of tobacco,
differing from that in use among the French and English settlers. The women,
he says, planted pumpkins and different species of melons in separate fields, at
a considerable distance from the towns. || It is even probable that the former
inhabitants cultivated fruit trees. Bartram, at least, found in Georgia and Ala-
bama, on the sites of ancient Indian settlements, various kinds of trees, such as

* Some of the facts mentioned in the following remarks were already given in my previous
article, published in the Smithsonian report for 1863 ; I repeat them here, for the sake of
greater completeness, in connection with some additional details bearing upon the same
subject. Fur descriptions of the remarkable "garden-beds " of Michigan, Wisconsin, and
Indiana, which indicate an ancient cultivation, I must refer to Schoolcraft, Lapham, and
others.

t Gallatin, Archseologia Americana, Vol. II, p. 149.
t Documentary History of New York, Vol. I, p. 238.

§ Garcilasso de la Vega, Conquete de la Floride. Leyden, 1731, Vol. I, p. 250.
|| Adair, History of the American Indians. London, 1775, p. 408.

BB 12.8

DEPOSIT OF AGRICULTURAL FLINT IMPLEMENTS 9

*Bartram's Travels. Dublin, 1793, p. 38 — • -

tGarctiasso de la Vega, Conquete de la rioride, Vol. I, p. 286, and Vol.H, p. 389.

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